Beaverslayer

K-man, Very nice work, I love the burnishing on the knife sheath, it's very clean looking. Where did you get the Beaver Tail? I see mine is still attached..LOL Ken

That looks real good TC, I just love dragons. What weight leather are you using? Ken

Welcome to the forum Colt, As Regis has stated, there are lots of books and videos at Tandy and Hidecrafters. If you don't have one near you, they both have websites that you can order from. Tandy also sells starter kits, and most Tandy managers are well versed in leatherwork, and will more than likely help you out. As for here on the forum, everyone is willing to help you out as well, if you have questions...just ask...someone will give you the answer you're looking for. Good Luck Ken

Hoyden, I'm not sure where abouts your located, but here's a place in central Canada that I would imagine would ship to wherever you are. They have a wide variety of soles to chose from...no pricing though. Boot Soles Ken

Welcome to the forum Julie, You will find here that there is an abundance of info and helping people. Most every question will get answered...other than where to find time with 5 kids around...Good luck tough. Ken

Here's a website that sells a whole lot of diferent elastics. Lace Heaven Ken

Suze, I just did a Google on KumiHimo, and found some very beautiful ropes I quess you would call them. Whats the chances you could post some pics of your work? I would think that KumiHimo, could be incorporated into a lot of the leatherwork that is shown here on the forum. Ken

Welcome to the forum Kaw, Very nice work there. Ken

Kate, Thanks for the linl, that is just amazing work, such detail and craftmanship. Ken

Welcome Suze, Be careful looking around here, you will most likely catch the leather bug, and before long, you'll be posting pics of your first project. Ken

Azmal, Sorry to say, but the money you spent on the calfskin lace would have been better spent on a lace cutter from Tandy...$14.95 I do believe. If you check the post about making lace, you will find my tutorial on how to use it. With one square foot of say garment hide leather cost of about $6.00, you can make about 75' of 1/4" or 150' of 1/8" lace...way cheaper than the premade lace from anybody. As to the cool lacing techniques, you can purchase books from Tandy as well that show all the differnet types and styles, with complete instructions on how to do them. I've thought about doing a tutorial on some of them, but I'm not sure if it would be a help or hinderance, as it is somewaht hard to explain without actually having the person learning looking over your shoulder at the same time. I've tried to teach a few people in person, but have only had one person really learn. Not sure if it's my teaching ability or just the people nto grasping what I'm showing. As to the amount of lace needed, that depends on what type of lacing you want to do. I made one vest with python skin flame inserts, and that took over 700 feet of lace. My basic "Rebel" style hat takes a bit over 70 feet of lace to complete. Some styles of lace patterns take upto 10 times the length of the seam to be laced. I am presently working on doing a "Mail Out" with patterns and instructions on how to make a leather hat. (bear with me people that have asked for it) as there are some very tricky things to do when it comes to attaching the brim to the hat itself...kinda hard to explain without being here to see what is done. But, any questions...don't hesitate to ask, I will endeavor to help out as best i can. Ken

Azmal, Of course I will discuss my work. The biggest thing with making a vest like I do is that you have to do some engineering of sorts. As it is all hand laced together, you have to be careful where you put your seams, and be sure to strengthen the seam area. I do this by glueing the two pieces of leather together..edge to edge..then glue a strip of pigskin to the backside, that overlaps both pieces. This lets say is a type of gusset. The pigskin strip is a bit more than 1/2" an inch wide, and this allows me to incorporate the pigskin into the holes I punch for the lacing, thus adding that extra strength to the seam. I once made a deerskin hat that got rained on the first time I wore it. It got soaked..soaked..soaked. Once it dried, I applied kneatsfoot oil to it, hoping to make it water proof. Well all that did was change the color. I then tried to wash the oil out of it, this made the hat feel like a slime worm in your hands. Wringing it out like you would a washcloth, I thought I was going to tear the hat apart, but to my amazement I found that even if I pulled with all my strenght, I could not pull the seams apart. Once I started building vests, I would use that hat as a demo to show people the strenght of the seams I used. Anyways, with your talent Azmal, you would have NO problems making a vest, or anyother type of clothing using just lace to assemble it. Lacing is quite easy to do, but VERY time consuming, but very relaxing as you do it. Ken

Chitin, The cutter has two slots for the blade, and it also has 4 grooves for the leather to run through. What you need to do is to place the razor in the furthest from the core slot, and use the second from the top groove. This should give you 1/4" lace. Depending on how much tension you apply, will also determine the width of the lace to some degree. But practice...practice...practice. Ken

Welcome there Tangent, You will find many helpful people here to answer pretty much any question you may have. Ken

Thats a beautiful piece Tangent. The color is very stunning. What diameter is it? Ken

Nice job Roger. It's nice to be able to slow down a bit and do something like that every now and again. Ken

Azmal, Move to Hollywood!!!!! Again...simply AMAZING. Ken

Looks real good Busted. What wieght leather did you make the belt with? Ken

Welcome Jesse, You should be able to pick up those tips real easy here, ask questions, and you will find that everyone is willing to help. Can we get you to play a few songs for us? Ken

Azmal, With each new post and pic I see of your work, my mouth drops further to the floor in amazement. WOW...WOW You are an amzing artist and leathercrafter... Keep up the great work. Ken

Another fine seat Roger. I am thinking though...we should get the State of California to do something about banning Black die... Think they'd go for that? Ken

Regis, Wishing you a GREAT and WONDERFUL Birthday Regis. Have a great day and an even better tomorrow. Ken

sheowahya, We at Leatherworker.net would like to wish you a VERY Happy Birthday, and many more to come. Ken

Hi again Dave, Here's a link to Tandies newest flier ad for a beginners leatherworking book on sale. Leather Working Book Ken

Welcome aboard Dave, Good to have you here. As Johanna has said, we have some of the best leatherworkers in the world here, and everyone of them is willing to help you out with any questions , or info on what you need. If you read some of the posts in the Motorcylce section, there is a whole lot of info on how to makje bike seats. Good luck, and welcome to the forum. Ken